Pick-A-Day

October 2024
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  

Archives

25: Matthew Shepard, 25 years later.

So, this is the second 25 years later post I’ve written. The first was a 500 word vomit produced in about 20 minutes. Disjointed. Disorganized.

The fact is, I am in Laramie, Wyoming, this week – I arrived Sunday evening and have been attending Matthew Shepard related events ever since.

Sunday night was “Laramie […]

24: Matthew Shepard

Wow.

Today marks 24 years since Matthew Shepard died.

It remains difficult to write my thoughts about him every year, some of this is because I feel like I am being a bit repetitious, some of it is because I never quite know how to address my feelings about him every year.

It’s not easy […]

23: Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard died 23 years ago today.

Another year has ticked by.

Another moment to pause and reflect on Matthew Shepard.

One remarkable thing about Matthew Shepard is that he continues to be present in society – I was scrolling through Facebook last week and I noticed that Indiana University Credit Union (my primary […]

22: Matthew “Matt” Wayne Shepard – *December 1, 1976; †October 12, 1998

Fuck.

Twenty-two years.

Time is so fleeting – how the hell have 22 years passed?

I write this from my new home, still in Berlin, but some 7 kilometers from my old home.

One of the things about moving is that you must sort through all your belongings, even though you’ve forgotten that you own. […]

21: Matthew “Matt” Wayne Shepard – *December 1, 1976; †October 12, 1998

Gosh. It’s hard to believe that another year has passed.

It seems like just yesterday I was reflecting on 20 years since Matthew Shepard died; now it is 21.

Whenever I sit down to reflect about his beating, his hospitalization, and his death – I am immediately transported back to that horrid day, 21 years […]

20: Matthew “Matt” Wayne Shepard – *December 1, 1976; †October 12, 1998

The Editors of the Casper Star-Tribune, Wyoming’s most important newspaper, sought letters, asking, “What does Matthew Shepard’s story mean to you?” I felt that I had to write a letter; I have no idea if it will be published. In case it is not published, I put it here, in full, on this, the 20th […]

19 years, but who’s counting?

Last weekend I was in Chicago, where I caught up with one of my early gay IU friends. We talked about a number of things – including the coming out process and what it was like to come out (whether to ourselves or to others) at Indiana University in the late 1990s.

But the thing […]

18 Years: Matthew Shepard

For 18 years, October’s cooler weather and shorter days is a reminder that the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s murder is fast approaching.

It’s somewhat daunting to pause and reflect – how much I’ve changed. How much America and the world has changed. And how much has not changed at all.

I want what I write […]

The Moment My Stomach Drops…

 

It was déjà vu: For a second time in my life, I heard the edge of a breaking news story and I instantly knew that the rest of the story was going to be painful.

This time it was that there had been another mass shooting, this time at a nightclub in Orlando. That […]

17: Matthew “Matt” Wayne Shepard – * December 1, 1976; †October 12, 1998

Matthew Shepard is a man who is often on my thoughts, with increasing frequency as early October rolls around.

It was October 6, 1998, when Aaron Kreifels had an accident with his bicycle, looked up, wondered about a scarecrow – only to realize that the scarecrow was a human being, Matthew Shepard.

Tuesday, Matthew Shepard […]